Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said the building gutted by a fire in Marshalltown yesterday, and where at least 73 people died, is a heritage site, and the state had on several occasions tried to evict the illegal dwellers.
Ntshavheni visited the downtown Johannesburg building, where over 50 mense were treated for injuries and smoke inhalation.
“It is a heritage site, that is what we are informed, and they have tried to remove the people from this building,” the minister told journalists at the scene.
Ntshavheni said efforts to rejuvenate the inner CBD of Joburg are greatly hampered by the hijacking of buildings.
She added that when the state tries to evict the illegal dwellers, the matter is taken to court by NGOs representing the occupants.
Owned by the City of Joburg, the building at 80 Albert Street, was officially opened in 1954 as the “Non-European Affairs Department” and served as the Central Pass Office.
During the apartheid era, this is where the notorious dompas would be issued to black citizens, in an effort to control their movements.
The building previously housed the Usindiso Ministries Women’s Shelter before being hijacked by building syndicates.
The cause of the fire could not be established immediately.
Angela Rivers, general manager of the Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association (JPOMA), said the majority of fires in hijacked buildings occur due to illegal electricity connections, and mense using fires to cook.
In this particular building, the hijackers had even built shacks.
“Rubbish is not collected so that also piles up, creating fire hazards,” said Rivers.
“In another hijacked building, they had gutted a lift shaft and created a tunnel that they were using as a rubbish bin. Basically, there were five floors of rubbish piling in this shaft.”
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